It is clear now that Brexit will be a disaster for the economy of this country -north and south. It will also jeopardise the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It will disrupt social life along the border. It will be bad for business. It will be very bad for the border communities. It will be bad for farmers. It will be a disaster if border checkpoints are re-established.
People have just begun to get used to life without the border and without checkpoints. Now it looks like it is coming back to show where the EU ends and the UK begins. This is because, in 1920, an arbitrary line was drawn across Ireland in order that the London government could maintain control of the northeast corner of this island.
Partition, in 1920, was a complete disaster economically, socially and politically. It divided communities and divided the people and prevented the natural development of an all-island economy. When the UK and Ireland joined the EU the situation improved. The 1998 Agreement went a good part of the way towards minimising the effects of the border. Now the good work achieved by many people in the peace process could be undermined by the return of the border.
In the post -Brexit situation the only way forward is for special status for the north to be recognised by the European Union and by the British and Irish governments. The return of any kind of border on the island of Ireland must be resisted. The Peace process depends on there being no border. It depends on there being no customs and it depends on freedom of travel. That was the 1998 Deal made between British and Irish governments, the political parties and which was supported by the European parliament and by the vast majority on this island. That Deal must be protected and honoured at all costs. The vote of the majority in the north in favour of Remaining in the EU must be respected. There is too much at stake.
This is a critical time for the development of the peace process of this country. It is a critical time for the economy of this island. We have too much to lose and nothing to gain from Brexit. We must keep the pressure on the Dublin government to uphold the Belfast Agreement and support those Irish citizens caught in this trap by a decision not of their making. It is time for the Dublin government to step up to the plate
only yesterday you were banging on about harris denying democracy.can you not get over brexit,its here,its happening end of the people have voted.
Billy is 100% correct.The people have voted!!!
We voted to REMAIM
Sorry for the misspelling REMAIN is what we voted for
and lost.
Joe
It isn’t clear if Brexit will be a disaster or not. You simply believe it will be which is completely different from it definitely is a disaster.
We don’t even know what BREXIT means anyway since we don’t know the terms of the new UK-EU relationship.
The benefits touted by the Brexiteers such as an increase of free trade with emerging economies i.e India, China etc are long term issues that’ll take years to implement and see if they are beneficial.
It’ll take ten years to properly analysis the effects of Brexit and would be foolish to pass judgment until them.
I take your point, Scott, that we need to see what emerges. But we can make educated guesses. Barriers at the border in Ireland must at least slow down trade and movement – and that costs. After that you have the massive subsidies that helped develop infrastructure and supported farmers – and the fact that border farms desperately need access to the other side of the border. And finally, to turn your back on a market of 500 million – well, there’d better be something very juicy on the horizon, and so far there’s no sign…
Yes of course Jude we do have to make judgment call on things but we also have to be aware of the limitations of our “educated guesses”.
At the moment however looking at it from a Ireland only point of view though there is positive mood music, with the EU, UK and ROI government all singing of the same hymn sheet on the Common Travel Area. Now there is a argument on whether that’ll be possible considering the differing tariffs there might be, with many believing that the CTA will be impossible to maintain.
All I’m saying is don’t prejudge the thing. We will know the details in under 2 years anyway.